Food and Shelter (2015)

With the Spanish football team's fortunes riding high, all the tousled young "Adrian" (Gaspar Campuzano) wants to do is watch the match on the telly in the flat he shares with his mum "Rocio" (Natalia de Molina). She's keen to oblige but has other more pressing matters on her mind. She is jobless and living pretty much hand-to-mouth on grants from the government and croquettes from their friendly neighbour "Maria" (Mariana Cordero) - they are even reduced to sourcing their water from a public fountain! When her son suffers from fainting spell that we guess might have been caused by malnutrition, and then she receives a note from the court telling her that they will be evicted for non-payment of rent, she must face an uncertain future without allowing those worries to filter down to her enthusiastic and loving young lad. That's the story really - it's an observation of a few days in their lives as she tries to make ends meet and protect "Adrian" from as much of the bad news as she can. It shines a powerful spotlight on the plight of those on the breadline in Spain - and probably in many other nations where welfare cuts are impacting deeply - and de Molina is on impressive form. Not for "Rocio" are regular histrionics, the bottle or the pills. Her son is her world and she his, and that element isn't wasted by the talented young Campuzano who reminded me a little of Noah Jupe with his cheekily personable performance. The scene at the very end cannot fail to bring a tear to your eye. This isn't presented in a depressing or gloomy fashion, but instead a realistic one that reminds us what their struggle is really all about and that there is still some decency amongst communities prepared to rally round; but there are no rose-covered cottage endings either. It's touchingly plausible, this film, and well worth a look.